Multiple opening medical examination and treatment gown

ABSTRACT

A medical gown for medical examinations, treatments, and procedures that ensures the privacy and dignity of a patient, comprising a series of flaps over access portals on the gown for breast, abdomen, spine, shoulder, and proctological examinations. The gown further comprising flaps that can be held closed either by a fastening means, or designed to be held closed by virtue of being oversized and tucked into the access portals of the gown. The gown further comprising arm lengths that can extend to the wrists of a patient and a pocket disposed on the abdomen or sleeve of the gown.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of application Ser. No. 11/602,963, filed on Nov. 22, 2006.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

The present invention is directed to a medical gown, and more particularly to a medical gown that allows examination and procedural access to various areas on a patient's body, while allowing the gown to cover the rest of the patient's body for privacy, security and dignity.

Medical gowns are known in the art, as are gowns designed to allow specific access to an area of a patient, or for a particular procedure. However, these gowns are designed principally either to allow access for a procedure, or for holding an apparatus after a procedure has been completed.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,198,614 to Kappauf discloses a method and apparatus for adapting clothing to allow access for medical procedures. Although this patent discloses an opening for a procedure, it is not drawn to a garment that comes pre-made with portals for specific procedures and flaps that can be re-sealed after the procedure is over.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,181,773 to Piraka discloses a hospital gown for medical procedures such as inserting catheters, heart monitoring and wound dressing. However, this invention fails to contemplate the use of a re-sealable flap, instead disclosing a removable panel. In contrast to Piraka, the flaps of the present invention are easy to open and reseal as different procedures and examinations are performed.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a medical gown for patient privacy which covers a patient during procedures and examinations. A further object of the invention is to allow access to areas of a patient while preserving the privacy, dignity and security of the patient. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a medical gown that preserves the privacy, dignity and security of a patient while allowing a series of related examination and procedures to be performed; for instance in a pre-natal to neo-natal setting, EKG settings, proctological examinations and others.

SUMMARY

The present invention comprises an improved medical gown for increased patient privacy and dignity, comprising a conventional medical gown with flaps that open to allow various parts of a patient to be accessed while covering the rest of the patient; ensuring their privacy and comfort during an examination or procedure. It is contemplated that five principal areas will be accessible by flaps: the chest including the breasts of a patient, the abdomen, the spine, the midsection including areas for proctological examination, and the shoulders. In different embodiments, the gown may have various combinations of flaps, including one for the chest and spine only, or one for the abdomen alone, etc.

As the device is directed to enhancing patient privacy, dignity and security, alternate embodiments are contemplated with sleeve lengths that extend to the wrists, although shorter sleeves are possible, including a sleeveless gown; and a body length that extends to the ankles of a user.

The gown may be worn by opening a closure that extends lengthwise down the body of the gown which ties at the neckline, or in an alternate embodiment, by pulling the gown over a user's head, in which case no closure will be present. A belt to secure the gown to a user and a pocket for holding a medical apparatus are also contemplated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an illustration of the front side of the medical gown of the present invention with breast and abdomen access flaps.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the back side of the medical gown of the present invention with a spinal access flap.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the back side of the medical gown of the present invention with flaps for proctological examinations.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the back side of the medical gown of the present invention with flaps for shoulder examinations.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are illustrations of closure mechanisms of the medical gown of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of the back of the medical gown of the present invention with flaps for spinal and proctological examination.

FIGURES—REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   10 . . . Gown -   12 . . . Breast Flap -   14 . . . Abdomen Flap -   16 . . . Breast Opening -   18 . . . Abdominal Opening -   20 . . . Sleeve -   22 . . . Bottom of Gown -   24 . . . Spinal Flap -   26 . . . Spinal Opening -   28 . . . Gown Neckline -   30 . . . Proctological Examination Flap -   32 . . . Proctological Examination Opening -   34 . . . Shoulder Flaps -   36 . . . Shoulder Opening -   38 . . . Closure -   40 . . . Belt -   42 . . . Tie

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the medical examination privacy gown of the present invention comprises a gown 10 with a breast flap 12 and an abdomen flap 14, through which prenatal, neonatal, EKG, or other examinations and procedures can be performed. The breast flap 12 and abdomen flap 14 are tucked into a breast opening 16, and an abdominal opening 18, respectively. The flaps 12, 14 are larger than the openings 16, 18 so that they can be tucked into the openings and held therein prior to and after examination.

The gown 10 has elongated sleeves 20 and an elongated body length 22 to improve coverage of the arms and legs of the patient. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the sleeves 20 extend to the wrists, and the bottom of the gown 22 extends to the ankles of a patient.

Referring to FIG. 2, the back of the gown 10 comprises a spinal flap 24 that covers a spinal opening 26 for epidural or other procedures or examinations. The spinal flap 24 extends from the neck line 28 of the gown 10. The spinal flap 24 is also larger than the spinal opening 26, so that it remains in a closed configuration prior to and after examination.

Referring to FIG. 3, an alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein a proctological examination flap 30 covering a proctological opening is 32 disposed at the mid-section of the gown 10, permitting access for proctological examinations.

Referring to FIG. 4, an alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein shoulder flaps 34 covering shoulder openings 36 are disposed on the shoulders of the gown 10.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, two embodiments of the present invention are shown with separate fastening means. In FIG. 5A, a typical closure means is shown, wherein a tie 42 is disposed adjacent to a closure 38 at the rear or front of the gown. In FIG. 5B, a pull-over style gown is shown, which is worn by pulling the unit over a user's head and securing the belt 40 disposed at the gown's midsection. In embodiments of the medical gown with flaps and openings at the rear of the gown, the closure 38 may be disposed on the front of the gown.

In embodiments where flaps are disposed on both the front and back of the gown, the closure 38 may be disposed on the side of the gown. In various alternate embodiments, the closure 38 may be held closed along the length of the gown by additional ties, buttons, zippers or hook and loop fasteners. In an alternate embodiment, including an embodiment where the breast, abdomen and spine flaps are all disposed on the privacy gown, the gown has no other openings, and is pulled over the head of a user when worn. Also shown in FIG. 5 is a belt 40 that can be incorporated into any of the embodiments of the invention.

In various alternating embodiments of the invention, various medical gowns are contemplated with any combination of the aforementioned openings and flaps. Particularly, for pre-natal and neo-natal procedures, EKG, epidural injections, and other treatments and procedures, a gown is contemplated wherein flaps are disposed on the breast, abdomen, spine and rear mid-section of the gown. In another embodiment of the invention, the gown comprises a hood member that completely covers the head of a user, with a portal for the user's face.

All features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6. In particular, the use of “step of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation. 

1. A medical gown comprising; a. a securable flap covering an open access area on the front of the gown, disposed to allow access to ventral areas of the upper torso, including the breasts of a female patient and the chest of a female or male patient b. a securable flap covering an open access area on the front of the gown, disposed to allow access to ventral areas of the lower torso, including the abdomen;
 2. A medical gown comprising a securable flap covering an open access area on the back of the gown, disposed to allow access to dorsal areas of the spinal region.
 3. A medical gown comprising a securable flap covering an open access area on the rear of the gown, disposed at the gluteal region to allow access to the patient for proctological examinations.
 4. A medical gown comprising a securable flap covering an open access area on the front of the gown, disposed to allow access to ventral areas of the upper torso, including the breasts of a female patient and chest of a female or male patient.
 5. The medical gown of claim 1, wherein the medical gown also comprises a flap covering an open access area on the back of the gown, disposed to allow access to spinal areas.
 6. The medical gown of claim 1, wherein the gown also comprises a flap covering an open access area on the rear of the gown, at the gluteal region to allow access to the patient for proctological examinations.
 7. The medical gown of claim 2, wherein the gown also comprises a flap covering an open access area on the rear of the gown, disposed at the gluteal region for proctological examinations.
 8. The medical gown of claim 2, wherein the gown also comprises a flap covering an open access area on the front of the gown, disposed to allow access to ventral areas of the upper torso, including the breasts of a female patient and chest of a female or male patient.
 9. The medical gown of claim 3, wherein the gown also comprises a flap covering an open access area on the front of the gown, disposed to allow access to ventral areas of the upper torso, including the breasts of a female patient and chest of a female or male patient.
 10. The medical gown of claims 1 through 9, wherein the flaps are larger than the open access areas, so that the edges of the flap extend into the open access areas, causes the flap to remain tucked in when the gown is in use.
 11. The medical gown of claims 1 through 9, wherein the gown covers a patient's arms and legs including the elbows and knees.
 12. The medical gown of claim 11, wherein the gown covers a patients arms to the elbow.
 13. The medical gown of claim 11, wherein the gown is sleeveless.
 14. The medical gown of claims 1 through 9, wherein the gown further comprises at least one flap covering an open access area on the shoulders of the gown, disposed to allow access to the patient for shoulder examinations and medical procedures.
 15. The medical gown of claims 1 through 9, wherein the gown further comprises a pocket on the gown adjacent to the abdomen of a user.
 16. The medical gown of claim 15, wherein the pocket is disposed on an arm of the gown.
 17. The medical gown of claim 10, further comprising a hood that covers the head of a user with at least one portal for the face of the user. 